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Houck

Houck was unable to solve former teammate Alex Bregman, who tagged him for a pair of home runs that accounted for all of the damage against him, during his first start back in the majors since May 12, 2025. The 30-year-old righty figures to be in the mix for a spot in Boston’s bullpen when they kick off the postseason with a best-of-three AL Wild Card Series matchup against the Yankees on Tuesday.

Houck will make his highly anticipated season debut on Sunday where he’ll function in a bullpen role. The 30-year-old righty has spent the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery and looked sharp over four minor league rehab starts, posting a 3.38 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and a 9/4 K/BB ratio over eight innings of work. Jedixson Paez was optioned to Triple-A Worcester in a corresponding move on Sunday.

Houck figures to make it back to Boston in a relief role before the regular season wraps up. The 30-year-old former starter has made three rehab outings in the minors over the last few weeks and should be close to returning to the majors for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery last year.

Houck is expected to make another rehab outing for Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday. The 30-year-old’s ultimate role with the Red Sox remains a bit murky, but he could function as either a traditional starter or bulk reliever during the postseason. He’s been working his way back from last year’s elbow surgery.

Houck threw 20 pitches, which was the plan from the start of the day, but he threw only eight for strikes. He walked two and induced a flyout and an RBI groundout. The 30-year-old is 13 months removed from Tommy John surgery and was making his first appearance in an official game, so some rust was expected. He will have one more outing in Portland before the plan is to move up to Triple-A, where we’ll get some more data on his velocity and pitch shapes.

According to Tim Healey of the Boston Globe, the current plan is for Houck to throw about 20 pitches with Double-A Portland on Tuesday, then 40-45 with Portland on Friday. Then he’ll join Triple-A Worcester for a game next week and could be an option to return to Boston after that. Obviously, he could also be built up to around 50 pitches at that point, which means Houck could even fill a starter/opener role with Patrick Sandoval or Brayan Bello following behind him. It remains to be seen what role Houck will have, but getting him back will be a nice boost for the Red Sox pitching staff.

This is great news for a Red Sox bullpen that currently has all of Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slaten, Zack Kelly, and Tyron Guerrero. Houck has plenty of experience in high-leverage innings and can help provide some relief to a tired relief corps. It may take him four or five appearances before the Red Sox feel comfortable bringing him up, considering he hasn’t appeared in a game since May 12th of last season.

Tracy said that it was roughly 15-18 pitches, and Houck averaged around 92 mph on his fastball while touching 94 mph. We could see Houck begin a rehab assignment within the week, which could make him an option for the bullpen later this month.

Houck is probably going to wind up pitching in relief during the final month of the season given Boston’s rotation depth. He’s been working his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery and should be ready for a rehab assignment in the near future.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy reported that Houck, who had surgery to repair his right ulnar collateral ligament and flexor tendon in his right elbow, is throwing multiple bullpens a week and is up to 40 pitches. He should advance to facing live hitters soon, and there is a chance that Houck could be an option for the Boston bullpen in September.